Hard news and happy talk

Carole Moore

By Carole Moore

Published: Sunday, December 15, 2013 at 12:00 PM.

Back in the ’80s when I was in local TV news, the trend was toward very short stories and “happy talk” between the anchors. At my station, we were forbidden to go more than 55 seconds on a story unless we had special permission, which the news director rarely granted.

It also meant that the anchor team yucked it up between stories. They weren’t particularly happy about having to be happy, but that was how local TV news evolved. Before the happy talk years, news had been very serious and Walter Cronkite-ish. Cronkite and other news anchors simply told the story without elaboration or editorial. And if opinion was presented, then it was labeled as such, and usually appeared at the end of the broadcast with someone other than a news reporter delivering it because we weren’t supposed to be biased. In fact, even in television news back in my time, reporters simply reported, without embellishment or slant. Editorial slant was unprofessional. Period.

Now, TV news has network news and cable news. Network news has remained less tainted by opinion than cable news, but editorial creeps into those broadcasts more often than it should. I’ve said before that I believe local TV news does an overall better job of remaining neutral than the networks do. For me, the most egregious news out of there is offered up by cable.

Whether you are at the Fox or MSNBC end of the spectrum, the news no longer is simply a recitation of what’s happening in the world around us. It’s what’s happening in the world with a big helping of bias and that’s simply not cool. It’s not 24/7 news, it’s 24/7 editorial with whatever news they think serves their purpose. I hope the American public is smart enough to know the difference.

And much worse than the happy talk of yesteryear is how cable pundits hit their breaks with ridiculous comments that promote upcoming stories. Does any of this sound familiar? “And you won’t believe what happens next.” Or, “You’ll be amazed at what they said.” Or, “Just wait until you see what they do.” See what I mean?

Another annoying cable news habit is reading emails and Twitter postings from viewers. If I want to know what John in Tacoma thinks of Obamacare, I’ll ask him. I don’t need to spend valuable minutes of my life listening to over-groomed TV personalities read them to me.

Back in the ’80s when I was in local TV news, the trend was toward very short stories and “happy talk” between the anchors. At my station, we were forbidden to go more than 55 seconds on a story unless we had special permission, which the news director rarely granted.

It also meant that the anchor team yucked it up between stories. They weren’t particularly happy about having to be happy, but that was how local TV news evolved. Before the happy talk years, news had been very serious and Walter Cronkite-ish. Cronkite and other news anchors simply told the story without elaboration or editorial. And if opinion was presented, then it was labeled as such, and usually appeared at the end of the broadcast with someone other than a news reporter delivering it because we weren’t supposed to be biased. In fact, even in television news back in my time, reporters simply reported, without embellishment or slant. Editorial slant was unprofessional. Period.

Now, TV news has network news and cable news. Network news has remained less tainted by opinion than cable news, but editorial creeps into those broadcasts more often than it should. I’ve said before that I believe local TV news does an overall better job of remaining neutral than the networks do. For me, the most egregious news out of there is offered up by cable.

Whether you are at the Fox or MSNBC end of the spectrum, the news no longer is simply a recitation of what’s happening in the world around us. It’s what’s happening in the world with a big helping of bias and that’s simply not cool. It’s not 24/7 news, it’s 24/7 editorial with whatever news they think serves their purpose. I hope the American public is smart enough to know the difference.

And much worse than the happy talk of yesteryear is how cable pundits hit their breaks with ridiculous comments that promote upcoming stories. Does any of this sound familiar? “And you won’t believe what happens next.” Or, “You’ll be amazed at what they said.” Or, “Just wait until you see what they do.” See what I mean?

Another annoying cable news habit is reading emails and Twitter postings from viewers. If I want to know what John in Tacoma thinks of Obamacare, I’ll ask him. I don’t need to spend valuable minutes of my life listening to over-groomed TV personalities read them to me.

But social media has been successful on one account: It’s making me long for the good old days of happy talk on the set. And that’s something I never thought would happen in a million years. #PleaseShutTheHeckUp.